October 2016

National Farm to School Month

Farm to school enriches the connection communities have with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing food purchasing and education practices at schools and early care and education settings. Students gain access to healthy, local foods as well as education opportunities such as school gardens, cooking lessons and farm field trips. Farm to school empowers children and their families to make informed food choices while strengthening the local economy and contributing to vibrant communities.

Vermi-Wormy Compost

Composting is nature’s way of recycling nutrients. All living things are organic and will naturally decompose. Compost is the dark, loose earth-smelling materials found on the forest floor, under the grass in a meadow, and under a pile of old leaves in your garden. With a worm composting bin (vermicomposting bin) you can make soil from old newspapers, veggie food scraps, plant trimmings, and other organic materials usually thrown away.

Guided Meditation
for Kids

Meditation, yoga, and other mindfulness practices are popping up in school systems nationwide, and for good reason. Giving kids the tools to help them fend off negative thoughts and behaviors, build self-confidence, focus, and treat others and themselves with respect and appreciation is a gift they will have for the rest of their lives.

Know Your Senses, Know Yourself

by Geoffrey Bishop

As teachers and mentors, it is our job to prepare the environment so that the child can learn through multiple experiences - failures as well as successes. Offering this path to self-discovery to children allows them to a true and natural understanding of themselves and their unique place and space within the world.

Copyright (2016) by the American Montessori Society.
All rights reserved.

Wisconsin Named Second in US for Organic Farms

Wisconsin continues to have the second most certified organic farms in the country behind California. With 1,205 organic farms, the state saw a slight decrease in the number of farms and acres operated in 2015, according to the latest report from the United States Department of Agriculture.

Wisconsin had the second highest number of acres in transition to organic last year at 10,836 acres.

Illinois Parents Demand More Recess for Kids

Parents want Grayslake [Illinois] Elementary District 46 students to have more recess time; currently, students get two 15-minute recesses per week. Parents urge school officials to consider allowing 30 minutes of recess every day for children.

“Studies have shown that daily outdoor play is vital to children's development and can actually help them to learn. D46 children do not receive daily recess and outdoor time is grossly limited,” according to the online petition.

NCI - Bruceville TX

Located in Central Texas, Nature's Classroom Institute in Bruceville is close to most major Texas cities including Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and Houston. The new EcoVillage sits in the woodlands of nearly 290 acres adjacent to a zoo and vegetable garden. It can house up to 72 people and a kitchen and dining room powered by solar cells. Memorable moments, our modern facility, and a multitude of activities make NCI Bruceville more than the usual retreat experience.